Both the gold and Indian Head penny come from the American River in Coloma, California.

The Story of Miner Mad Jack
This is a story miners tell about Mad Jack who sluiced and panned for gold on the American River in the late 1890's.
Jack had a special area that he liked to pan. His days' take was a pennyweight or two of gold, which was enough to buy one meal a day. This particular spring day Jack went to the river looking for the elusive large gold nuggets that would make him rich. Jack looked up and down the river and saw 20 or more miners panning. Jack found an Indian Head penny and in a loud voice said "I'm throwing this here penny in the river for good luck". Well, Jack got his wish and found a nugget that weighed around 30 pennyweights or 1.5 ounces. The next day all of the other miners were throwing pennies in the river hoping to change their luck.
These pennies can still be found in the river today.
Now you can own one of these pennies crafted into jewelry.